Analyst predicts iBooks, touch-screen iPod at event in April - Page 2

Originally posted by octaneOf course that line of thinking assumes the processor is the only place there is added cost when using a duo instead of solo

What other costs are there? I was under the impression that the duo and solo were pin compatible, meaning no MB or other changes are necessary. Power and heat isn't supposed to differ much between the two either. From what I've heard, it sounds like you could even take a solo machine and swap the chip yourself, assuming they didn't solder it on (like they guy in japan did with the imac).

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Originally posted by Cory Bauerminderbinder, Apple's currently using the lowest-clocked Core Duo chip available in the $1999 MacBook Pro. If they put that same chip in the $1499 and $1,299 price ranges, what's going to make the $1999 MacBook Pro worth that much to a buyer?

Not to mention that there will be more chips available by the time the solos ship. With the G4 ibooks/powerbooks Apple didn't have different chips to differentiate. What's wrong with MPB with 2.2 dual and MB (formerly ibook) at 1.6 dual?

Also, we don't know that there will be a 12 or 13" macbookpro, the smaller one may be the MB with the 15 and 17 for the MBP. Also, who's to say there won't be a price drop on the MBP's down the road when the MB's ship?

I don't think it makes any sense to intentionally cripple lower end models for no good reason. After all, they're not just competing with themselves, they will also be competing with PC makers shipping lower end laptops.

Pu the iPod news from here together with the news that the iPod processor maker wil soon be introducing a wireless chip with WiFi and Bluetooth. My one gripe about PalmPilots is that they don't have nearly enough disk space on them. Throw in a 1/2/4/20/30/40/60GB HDD and voila...

Originally posted by minderbinderAlso, who's to say there won't be a price drop on the MBP's down the road when the MB's ship?

If the MacBooks (iBook replacement) arrived late this Summer or in the Fall, then sure. The MacBook Pro's could get bumped to 2.2Ghz or have a price drop, or both, thus allowing the MacBook (iBook replacement) to get a Core Duo. But if the iBook replacement is announced in March or April as the rumors say, then the current 15" MacBook Pro will have been available in quantity for only 1-2 months. Christ, some people will probably just be getting their MacBook Pro orders. If the iBook replacement arrives in March/April, then there's no way it can be Core Duo, because Apple's $2,000 laptop that just started to be readily available uses the lowest-clocked Core Duo.

You can have a Core Duo iBook replacement in the Fall, when MacBook Pro can get Merom.

While higher clockspeeds would be a good way to differentiate between the iBook and MacBook lines, I could see Apple relying on the other MacBook features to differentiate the units: higher-rez screens, more internal/external expansion, backlit keyboard, svelter/lighter case, etc. If you don't want to spend the extra money for a MacBook don't do it. If the iBook is crippled with a core solo processor, Rosetta and iLife will likely perform poorly. However this would definitely drive users to the MacBook unless the iBook's price is right.

Sorry to say this guys, but I just HATE, HATE, HATE the idea of the iPod moving to some tablet PC. I can see in some cases, it would be a fabulous thing, especially if it acted as a mirror to my current system ... like a pocket iMac! Bt I really don't like the idea of the iPod converting into that. The iPod is a great product because it serves a general need - the public's need to access their digital media quickly, simply and easily in an elegant, inexpensive and useful way.

If you throw OS X Lite into it and promote it as the PocketMac Pro or whatever, you have the distinct possibility of turning away new buyers. The iPod works cross platform, making it accessbile for the 95% of the world that doesn't use a Mac. The iPod needs to stay like it is and evolve over time as it has been. I'd like to see longer battery lifes, more movie codec support, bluetooth compatibility and a Power Book or MacBook type Aluminum look.

What Apple should do is let the iPod be the iPod, and work really, really hard to get me my PocketMac! Seriously, who wouldn't want a miniature computer with a 30 or 60 GB HDD in your pocket that mirrors your current system, has Wi-Fi and bluetooth compatibilty, carries pocket version of Office so you can give presentations on the go ... oh, the possibilities for something like that are endless, plus, if it runs a small version of iTunes and mirrors your library, it'd be like having an iPod ... only way more functional.

But yeah ... dream over ... two seperate products ... iPod and PocketMac. Together they can revolutionize the world!!!!

P.S. - Pocket iMac Pro - PMP, code named "PiMP", and really close to PSP, so if nothing else, Apple can make sure people know their alphabet...

>>Wolf also believes that Apple will use the event introduce the "real" video iPod. "Apple was careful to call the iPod capable of displaying video that it introduced in October just thatan iPod that played music but also featured a video viewing capability," he wrote. "According to our sources, the screen on the Video iPod will occupy the entire front of the current iPod with a touch-activated scroll wheel."<<

Gosh, do you think their "source" was the readily available patent drawing?

But seriously, I would flip for an iPod with built-in Front Row and the described touch-screen for close-up viewing. It's tough to imagine where they'll take it exactly, but I'd favor something much smaller and sleeker than the PSP, with tough nano-engineered diamond coat touchscreen.

Touch-screen iPod? I hope not. I tend to navigate my iPod by 'feel' - the clickwheel has a nice grippy texture so I can operate it without taking it out my pocket. I wouldn't be able to do that with a smooth touch-screen.

How many 'widescreen' videos are there in the iTMS, anyway? Enough to merit rumors of such a widescreen device? Hardly.

iPod would make the most useless tablet PC ever, but it would be nice to be able to create tasks/calendar items to sync with iCal. Never happen, though, it'd go against Apple's philosophy of only downloading to iPod, never uploading from.

If Apple does have such a device ready, though, I'm sure they'll wait at least until June before releasing it - people are still pawing over the current Videos and Nanos, they have plenty of time to investigate something super to stick in it beside the vanishing unfriendly clickwheel.

Personally, I'd rather see a longer battery life on the current iPod video than this, and maybe chop that extra width off for those of us who want the disk space but not the video... scrap the color screen, while you're at it! Hell, I may as well just stick with my 4G! Progress be damned! The only things that seemed attractive about the iPod Video were its slim profile and superior recording quality.

You have a good point. The current iPod was released like four months ago. The new BLACK color and widescreen format is still really new. I know many people still don't know what a NANO is?? And the nano was introduced BEFORE the iPod with video. I just don't see Apple bagging this relatively drastic design change, from the 4G so quickly. They'll do at least one or maybe two revs of it before a re-design...

Definitely the iBook, and I would think the media center Mac mini would be more likely at the April event, and if anything iPod is announced, the shuffles are due for a redesign, even though the prices were just lowered...

Originally posted by hmurchisonI hope Apple adds card slots to this unit as well. Think about this thing being a video/photo playback and storage unit. Add CF/SD and Memory Stick slots and it becomes the must have accessory for Aperture users. Add RAW support and you got a sale from me.

Apple doesn't seem to like having any more ports than they have to, see the eliminated remote connector on 5G and reduced ports on Mac Book Pro. If you want a memory card slot, it would be in an external device like the Camera Connector. It seems if Apple could sell a non descript monolith, they would.

Anyways, i read entire forum and no one even mentioned solution of having click wheel on back, big ass screen on front.

That way, screen can have protector, whatever, no fingerprint smudges, and u use the thing with your fingers on the back.

Has been done before with some of the ye olde Sony Clie's, in replacement of the standard place for OS5's five way navigator. While i never owned one myself, a freind does, and he assures me is easy once you get used to it.

Anyways, new ipod could bassically be a PSP (sony again, my bad), without the gaming bit or the horrible looking headphone port. I mean, come on, yellow?

Dock attachment could still be on bottom, but do you think a billion dollar industry is going to stop jobs from putting it where he wants? I think not.

Originally posted by Cory BauerApple's $2,000 laptop that just started to be readily available uses the lowest-clocked Core Duo.

Intel also lists a 1.6 duo, which may be shipping when the solos ship. I also wouldn't be surprised if apple *announces* the ibook and starts taking orders in late spring but doesn't ship for a little while. For school shoppers, they want to make their decision late spring, but they don't actually need the boxes until mid summer.

Does it really seem likely that the MBP will ship late february after a january announcement, followed in march by an ibook shipping immediately? Both models would be shipping at almost the same time.

Originally posted by jdbartlettTouch-screen iPod? I hope not. I tend to navigate my iPod by 'feel' - the clickwheel has a nice grippy texture so I can operate it without taking it out my pocket. I wouldn't be able to do that with a smooth touch-screen.

Thank goodness! I thought I was the only person that felt this way. Also, the iPod needs to maintain one-handed useability. I don't want to have to put down whatever I may be carrying in one hand because I need two hands to change tracks on my iPod. That would suck.

My Analysis
1 - The MacBook (iBook) will get a core single.
2 - When the MacBook Pro gets the Merom chip the high-end MacBook will get the core duo.
3 - The 17" MacBook Pro will start out with the Merom.
4 - Apple will release a 13" MacBook Pro with Merom processor.

I have never used a laptop with a PCMIA card/ExpressCard, but what if, when the MacBook gets a 64-bit processor, then Apple redesigns the 13" MacBook Pro so that it gets an ExpressCard in lieu of some built-in ports? Of couse you would get one with your MacBook Pro when you purchase it, but there would be a few for you to choose from so you could have what you need. Better yet, if the 13.3" MacBook Pro is wide enough then the slot for the superdrive will go in the front like the 15" and 17" models. This could then free up space for an ExpressCard, move the FireWire400 port to the other side so another USB port can be included, have room for a full-size DVI connection, etc. This would go a long ways toward separating the high-end MacBook from the low-end MacBook Pro.

Apple could easily broaden what "iPod" means to be a "platform" of products (music player, phone, video player, home DVR, tablet, PDA, etc.)

I have to respectfully disagree. The Macintosh is a line of products that contains Apple computer hardware (iMac, PowerMac, MacBook, Mac Mini, etc.), whereas the iPod line contains three different types variations of a digital music player. If Apple braodened the term iPod to mean PDA, Smartphone, whatever, I can just see the consumer rebuff. Right now it's entrenched in society that an iPod is portable music (and video) player, where you can keep a few things like your contacts and address book and pictures handy. I just think we'd have more conversations like this going on:

Hey, cool! What's that!!!
-It's the new iPod! It's got Wi-Fi and Office Lite on it
Umm ... isn't that a Palm?
-Hell no! It's an iPod!
No ... this is an iPod (pulls out beautiful 5G white iPod)
-Oh, well this is the iPod PDA.

Apple's too deep to make the iPod a line of gadgety products. If they had done it back around 2nd or 3rd gen, MAYBE it would have worked, but I just don't see it happening. Apple will name their new products some other weird name ... PocketMac, iPhone, whatever...

Sometimes people get too fixated on how things are/appear now. I don't know how many complaints I've heard about "Apple is a computer company! Enough with the iPod!"

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Originally posted by AgNuke1707If Apple braodened the term iPod to mean PDA, Smartphone, whatever, I can just see the consumer rebuff.

Possibly.

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Originally posted by AgNuke1707Right now it's entrenched in society that an iPod is portable music (and video) player,

"and video"...see the evolution has already started.

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Originally posted by AgNuke1707Apple will name their new products some other weird name ... PocketMac, iPhone, whatever...

Maybe...but remember...name recognition means a lot in the world of marketing. Part of the reason that Apple hasn't changed the name of iTunes to something more generic (it sells more than "tunes" now) is because of the name recognition issue.

In case you all haven't noticed, people use "iPod" as a generic name for an mp3 player. I've heard many people refer to their NON-APPLE mp3 players as an iPod.

What I am noticing now is people referring to their iPods by the second name, i.e. "shuffle", "nano", "mini". They refer to their 5G iPods as just "iPod" or "video iPod." On the first point, I could see Apple releasing a video-specific iPod line and call it something like "iPod flix." That would make it so people would still use the second name when referring to it: "Hey, I got a flix! Check it out!"

Originally posted by Chris CuillaI have never heard that it stands for or means anything at all.

pod 1 |päd| noun

1 an elongated seed vessel of a leguminous plant such as the pea, splitting open on both sides when ripe. the egg case of a locust. Geology a body of rock or sediment whose length greatly exceeds its other dimensions : pods of blue quartz in Virginia. a narrow-necked purse seine for catching eels.

2 [often with adj. ] a detachable or self-contained unit on an aircraft, spacecraft, vehicle, or vessel, having a particular function : the torpedo's sensor pod contains a television camera.

Originally posted by trobertsMy Analysis
1 - The MacBook (iBook) will get a core single.
2 - When the MacBook Pro gets the Merom chip the high-end MacBook will get the core duo.
3 - The 17" MacBook Pro will start out with the Merom.
4 - Apple will release a 13" MacBook Pro with Merom processor.

this sounds plausible to me. not that i "know" anything. but it just makes sense from a marketing perspective.

Sometimes people get too fixated on how things are/appear now. I don't know how many complaints I've heard about "Apple is a computer company! Enough with the iPod!"

You may be right, and I'm certainly not saying the iPod as we know it now doesn't have room to evolve ... they keep evolving and I keep buying them. What I'm saying is Apple is making too much headway with the iPod (as a portable media device) brand to turn it into The iPod PDA, iPod DVR home theater System, or something else along those lines. I understand your point about product and brand recognition, but that's where I think the problems will start. People recognize the iPod for what it is now, and I don't see consumers buying into a marketing scheme that places iPod in front of some other words. I'm not saying an Apple PDA or DVR is bad either. I'm just hoping the iPod doesn't become a PDA, DVR, etc. It's too much for what's already an elegantly simple design and implamentation.

Originally posted by icibaquthis sounds plausible to me. not that i "know" anything. but it just makes sense from a marketing perspective.

I'm not so sure, icibaqu

First, the dual core chip is not as far of a price jump as many thought. So I think that there may be 2 models, as was described in a post on this page, where the base model is a single core and the nicer, upgraded version has a duo chip.

Second, there have been rumors for months now that Apple may not continue making a 12inch pro portable, so there's no telling if they will make one or not.

Other than those two things, I think you are pretty close to on track.

Originally posted by JeffDMGiven that mock-up art of this type rarely, if ever appears from Apple before an introduction, I would just say it is almost certain to be an outsider concept mock-up.

Well...we never see it, that is certain...but the artwork (within Apple) is most certainly done well before public announcement. So that is the only thing I am giving him benefit of the doubt on...somehow he got hold of it. Otherwise, yes this is a fake. Though it certainly looks exactly like what they might do.

Originally posted by jindrichsony introduced in june their first walkman phone. in 6 months has sold 3 million units.

Apple sold 14 millions in 3 months.

Now, what were you saying again?

I don't mean to diminish the threat of alternative options (cellphones, etc.) but I think this is all a bit more complex than we all think. Content (iTMS) is one issue that complicates things for example. Another is how people perceive certain devices (phone, music players, etc.)

Personally I would hate using a cell phone/music player combo. I just want a phone that works well as a phone. Is that too much to ask? Probably.

Personally I would hate using a cell phone/music player combo. I just want a phone that works well as a phone. Is that too much to ask? Probably.

I think the point was that just one model of a phone sold that many in a market where there are several dozen models with no single brand hogging the market, and nearly all of those several dozen phone models also play music, so that could mean 50M+ such phones sold worldwide in the same time period.

I do think a dedicated device is easier to use and in other ways better than a converged multi-device, but which way the market goes simply depends on buyer preference.

from people i know who have gotten mp3 phones, the main issue to them is battery life. so until that situation is addressed significantly, cellphone/mp3 players don't really present a market to the same degree the ipod does. the ipod simply wouldn't be as popular w/o that 10+ hour battery life.

First, the dual core chip is not as far of a price jump as many thought. So I think that there may be 2 models, as was described in a post on this page, where the base model is a single core and the nicer, upgraded version has a duo chip.

Second, there have been rumors for months now that Apple may not continue making a 12inch pro portable, so there's no telling if they will make one or not.

Other than those two things, I think you are pretty close to on track.

you may be right, i may be crazy. but small form factor professional machines is what a lot of business traveling professionals are looking for (hello vaio explosion). those same traveling professionals may like to watch a movie while on a flight on thier 13ish" macbook pro. the general dimensions/"form factor" can cross translate from the intel-ibook line along with making it a more "pro" machine.

so
ibook = 13". maybe a core-solo for younger users/less intense computing and core-duo option for older ibook users (like college kids or post-grad consumers) who will make use of the widescreen. the thing that battles against this for me is that part of the apple appeal is simplification. and so one standard chip choice (duo) makes more sense b/c you cast a wider net as well as probably are able to obtain more desirable pricing with bulk-buys from intel/etc.

i mean, here is the deal for me if i were going to be tempted into getting an ibook upgrade (from a few revisions ago 14" G4) or if i were a regular buyer looking at smallish laptops. basically, it's the "oh damn" factor. if apple releases an ibook with a core solo i'll just compare it to PC stuff getting a core solo -- and may decide to get something PC and small and cheaper. hell i know windows already. with the 14" ibook, i'll wait to upgrade b/c by the time the processor difference makes enough of a difference to me i know that other features (isight, front row, x-future feature) will have been improved/introduced. so there's no pressure to buy.

on the other hand if they have a consumer laptop that's using the same chips (although slower) than PC makers more expensive machines then i start to see some product difference and it's harder to say that a windows PC and a Mac are one in the same since they have the same chip. basically, i look at apple and see: top of the line chip in their consumer product, cool form factor, isight, front row, osx and itunes etc in a little book that i'll be able to use for the next few years. if "dual core processor" is how computer sales staff's are upselling their customers, what that says to me is that "core solo" technology doesn't have the longevity of "dual core" technology. who cares if that's true or not? it's about perception.